TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Submarine Acoustics Program, PMS 401, PEO Subs, ACAT II

OBJECTIVE: Develop engineering sensors to be used in thin-line submarine towed arrays to provide enhanced real-time PMFL capabilities to mitigate operational circumstances that lead to failures as well as to localize and diagnose the underlying causes of failures should they occur, to monitor the performance of the towed array handling system through measurements of its interactions with the array, and to define and prioritize tradeoffs between competing cost and array and handler performance issues.

DESCRIPTION: Towed arrays, particularly submarine thin-line towed arrays, are subjected to harsh forces during both handling and tactical operations. Towed array reliability demands an objective systems engineering approach that monitors towed array health during all modes of operation, including specifically handling. The advent of modern data networks has made it possible to perform sophisticated real time performance monitoring and fault localization (PMFL) on the basis of data from specifically designed engineering sensors as well from the tactical acoustic sensors. The analysis of those data can be used to support the adaptive reconfiguration of the data network in the event of failure detection, to more narrowly localize and diagnose a failure within the array, as well as to potentially provide clear evidence of the underlying cause(s) of the failure.

This topic seeks engineering senors for thin-line submarine towed arrays which provide objective information, ideally actionable in real-time via a complementary PMFL capability, with which to monitor the health of the towed array handling system, the health of the towed array data network during all modes of operation, to monitor dynamically the effects attributable to submarine operations on towed array parameters known to correlate with risk of towed array failure, to detect and localize array failures.

PHASE I: Determine the feasibility of one or more candidate engineering senors for thin-line submarine towed arrays to provide objective information, ideally actionable in real-time via a complementary PMFL capability, with which to monitor the health of the towed array handling system, the health of the towed array data network during all modes of operation, to monitor dynamically the effects attributable to submarine operations on towed array parameters known to correlate with risk of towed array failure, to detect and localize array failures. Specify data and data band width requirements as well as methods by which a subsequent Phase II demonstration would validate the technical performance of the proposed engineering sensor(s).

Outline a business case analysis process for use in a Phase II justification for implementation of any proposed engineering sensor and/or PMFL capability in an instrumented towed array segment. Include an outline for a functional description of any proposed complementary PMFL routines.

PHASE II: Produce and deliver prototype engineering sensor hardware and/or PMFL analysis software based on Phase I work for subsequent integration to an instrumented thin-towed array segment. (Obviously the density of sea water defines an upper bound on the average density allowed for a submarine towed array. A specific gravity of 1.0 or less for the sensor is then desirable.)

Those sensors are expected to be compatible with the engineering sensor telemetry low level telemetry node interface specification which will be selected for use the Submarine Thin-line Vector Sensor Towed Array (VSTA) Future Naval Capabilitity (FNC) project. (That interface description, which will subsequently be specifically defined, is expected to be representative of a modern telecom data network standard.) Develop and validate the requisite complementary PMFL capability necessary to demonstrate the utility of the engineering sensor hardware in an instrumented towed array segment.

PHASE III: The expected Phase III effort should be expected to be for delivery of engineering sensor kits based upon the Phase II product suitable to the instrumentation of a thin-line array comprised of a number of segments up the number of segments used in a TB-29(A).

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: The proposed engineering sensors and methods might be applicable to real time monitoring of distributed sensor networks using physical network cables. Towed arrays used in geoacoustic applications (oil exploration for example) might benefit from such capabilities.

REFERENCES:
1. TBD Telecom Interface Description Documentation
2. TBD Data Network Reliability

KEYWORDS: reliability, maintainability, telemetry, network, towed, array

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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